Chapter 59: Alice Is One of a Kind

"...How many came in?"

[As I mentioned earlier... Posts like 'Hi, Alice, I've liked you since the moment I first saw you. I wanted to confess before the broadcast...' all the way to 'Who's going to teach the class now?'—the heavily prank-like ones were filtered out, and even counting only the genuine submissions from fans, there are about fifty posts. Oh, short posts of three lines or fewer were sorted separately, so they aren't included in that count.]

Don't read things like that aloud in such a deadpan voice.

Anyway, fifty posts... That's more than I'd expected, but if that was the final tally, it wasn't really a problem.

The real problem was that these were all posts written over the single day since I'd announced it in yesterday's class.

"You... must be exhausted. So many people love Alice. Alice is happy too."

[Yes. It's part of my job, after all. It's only natural. Oh, and I hear the filming crew, including the producer, are each writing one as well. Since the next broadcast is the day after tomorrow, I'll continue reviewing and counting them in the meantime. As for the physical letters, we've been collecting them without opening them. About ten have arrived so far, and most people seem to have come directly to the company to deliver them instead of using the post office.]

"...Oh my, Alice is touched too. Then I look forward to your continued help."

[Yes. Have a restful break.]

-Beep

"...What?"

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to make of it.

Were those really all letters written out of genuine fan devotion? Hadn't they just come here to stir up trouble because they were bored?

Sapphire would naturally have dealt with any hateful or sarcastic posts. She'd said the prank-like ones had been excluded too.

No, fifty. Yes. That was possible. Ten letters, too. That could happen.

But it had only been a day since the news spread.

At least sixty people had written heartfelt messages to an idol they liked in just one day—not something they'd merely dashed off, either?

'...Is Alice more popular than I thought?'

I definitely couldn't find much about myself even if I searched through TV programs or news articles, could I? Was there some secret fan community somewhere?

-Throb-throb

I could read sixty. If I set aside a day and spent it staring at my monitor and the letters, it was manageable.

But this wasn't the end, was it? The number was probably still growing even now. The people who took their time and filled every available space before sending their letters were the ones I really had to fear, so this probably wasn't even a third of the total. I should estimate it at around a fifth. How many busy modern people could hear the news, write a letter, and deliver it all in a single day?

"...Sigh. My eyes are going to fall out. Should I start dealing with them now?"

At least there wasn't any particular deadline for reading them.

I had to select someone from among the magical girls playing the students, so I needed to read those as soon as they came in. But I'd told them to submit their letters by the day before class. Unless every letter boasted an utterly unreasonable length, I could read them all before class began. I could take my time with the rest whenever I had a free moment.

[Do I really have to read them all? Can't I just not read them and throw some away? They won't know anyway.]

"There was a magical girl who threw away a fan letter, only for someone to find it in the trash and cause a scandal."

[...What if I burn them?]

"That would be safe enough... but in this day and age, finding somewhere to burn things like that would be a chore too."

-Glance

Besides, a stalker lived right next door. If I threw them away and they happened to find out, I had no idea what they might do... so I decided to obediently read them.

...Even so, if there were too many, I really would burn them or something. My house wasn't that spacious.

Mia was already writing away as if sharpening a knife... I had no idea how much she planned to unleash.

"...Should I just start reading them now?"

[The online ones don't take up any space, and you can read them whenever you want. Shall I go pick up the letters?]

"...Yeah. Let's just deal with them now. If I put it off and try to do them all at once later, it'll cause trouble."

I'd often seen people postpone things until later, only for the work to pile up beyond their control and leave them unable to do anything at all. Now that I was facing a situation where I might genuinely be buried beneath a mountain of letters, I needed to stay on guard.

To be honest, I was also curious what people liked so much about Alice that they had written so earnestly.

-Tap tap

[Ms. Sapphire, I'm sorry to bother you so late. I can't stand being curious about the letters sent by people who love Alice. May I come pick them up now? ₍⑅ᐢ. ̬.ᐢ₎♡]

[Of course. I'm still at the office anyway... If you tell me when you'll arrive, I'll have them ready and come out to meet you. I had quite a bit of work to take care of today.]

[Hmm... It'll take about thirty minutes. Should I go to the entrance of the office?]

[Yes, I'll have them ready so you can take them as soon as you arrive.]

[Then I'll head over now. Alice is on her way! ₍ᐢ. .⑅ᐢ₎↝]

"...Phew."

Maintaining Alice's persona while exchanging messages was quite a chore. I was used to speaking that way, but typing it out felt strangely awkward.

Especially that rabbit emoticon. To maintain Alice's persona, I'd searched for it online, saved it in my notes, and picked one every time while thinking, 'This one should work this time'... After sending the message, I sometimes ended up suffering from an inexplicable sense of self-loathing.

At my age, using things like that...

"...Whatever. It's not like it's only been a day or two. Let's go."

I knew from long experience that it was better to empty my mind by doing something else at times like this, so I was just about to head outside when...

-Bang!

-Bang!

"Huh?"

"..."

"Where are you going at this hour? Are you going out to dinner?"

"...I have somewhere to be."

The timing had lined up perfectly.

At this point, it felt like they'd come out at exactly the right moment on purpose.

I'd worked a convenience-store shift at dawn, so I thought they'd be relatively quiet today, but of all things, I ran into them in the evening.

"Wow! Which direction are you headed? I was just about to go to the market too. Want to go together as far as you're going?"

"...I told someone I'd be there by a certain time. I'm sorry, but I'll go on ahead."

"Then it can't be helped. See you later!"

I hurried away, leaving Mia behind.

Since I was going to Emerald's company anyway, I could have told Mia, since she was a magical girl too. But there was a simple reason I deliberately said nothing.

'If I tell her, she'll insist on coming along.'

I'd learned that after being put through enough of their antics.

If I'd said, 'I'm going to pick up letters as Alice. I heard they've piled up quite a bit,' it was obvious she'd say she wanted to come too.

Then I wouldn't have had any suitable excuse to refuse, and after fumbling around awkwardly, we'd end up going together. That would mean Mia and Alice would have to walk boldly into the company's entrance side by side.

'...That would be a problem.'

Besides, when I went alone, Alice's ability to move freely meant I could take a circuitous route here and there. Having Mia with me would make that difficult.

Even now, I planned to go outside, transform into Alice in a suitable blind spot, repeat teleportation a few times to erase my route, and then fly there. But if Mia came with me... we'd probably end up taking a bus or taxi together like good friends.

Having a car would certainly be convenient, but I rarely went outside in the first place. Given the nature of my job, it would also be extremely awkward if I received an emergency call while driving, so there was nothing I could do. Professional magical girls didn't bring managers along for no reason.

As planned, I transformed into Alice and repeated the teleportations. Once I decided I was far enough away, I summoned starlight beneath my feet and began to fly.

It was evening, after sunset. Alice, white from head to toe and flying atop starlight, was bound to stand out.

"There! Look at that!"

In this small country, avoiding people wasn't as simple as merely wanting to avoid them. I would just have to accept showing myself to some extent...

"Isn't that Alice? The one who was on the news!"

...What?

"Huh? Yeah, it is! White, flying on starlight. She's exactly like that! It's Alice!"

"Woooow! She's beautiful!"

"Thank you!!!"

"We'll be cheering for you!!"

"Please give me an autograph!!"

'...What is this?'

I pretended to listen while smiling and waving for the sake of the persona, then increased my speed as much as possible.

'Bunny. Was there something I was on the news for?'

[I didn't do anything particularly wrong, did I?]

'If I'd done something wrong, they'd have treated me like someone who deserved to die, not reacted like that, right?'

Wasn't this a world where, once the news branded someone a bad person, even strangers who had never met them would tear them apart? Judging by their reactions, there was a good chance this was positive news.

'...Was there something?'

I racked my memory as I flew toward the company as quickly as possible, then slowed down near the entrance and landed safely on the ground.

'...Should I ask Sapphire? She seems like she'd know.'

Thinking that this was something I needed to ask an expert about, I entered through the entrance—and spotted blue hair in the distance.

As usual, she was wearing a black suit over a white shirt. It was a look closer to that of an office worker than a magical girl, but considering Sapphire's role, it suited her.

Perhaps because it was hot, she'd undone several buttons on her shirt, and I couldn't help seeing the skin between them.

...No, a magical girl's eyesight was simply too good for me to avoid it. I hadn't looked on purpose.

"You've arrived. I've prepared everything here. You can take it right away."

Sapphire said that as she handed me a small box.

"Thank you. I'm sorry Alice seems to have bothered you all the way until this late hour."

"As Alice's manager, you may call me at any time, twenty-four hours a day, for as long as I am assigned to her. The company instructed me to do so, and I am compensated accordingly. Besides, I had business at the company today for other reasons anyway."

"I see... Oh, right. Ms. Sapphire, I heard that Alice was recently on the news. Do you happen to know what that was about?"

"The news?"

At that, Sapphire looked thoughtful for the briefest moment before opening her mouth.

"This evening... Yes. That would have been about two hours ago. Apparently, Alice recently rescued people from a collapsing building, and it was briefly mentioned. From what I heard, she threw eight citizens from a collapsing rooftop to the building across from it and saved them. Then she moved between the collapsing buildings to rescue another magical girl, and after quite some time, she rescued only that magical girl, left her outside, and disappeared... I believe that was the gist of it."

"Isn't that simply what a magical girl should do?"

"Magical girls rescuing people is certainly an ordinary part of the job... but the feat Alice displayed was remarkable. There was no footage, so it wasn't shown in a video, but the details were confirmed through testimonies from the rescued citizens and from people who had evacuated and watched the building collapse."

"Hmm. Alice is impressive, isn't she? But magical girls who specialize in rescue could do it even more safely, couldn't they?"

"It would be difficult to keep up with those who specialize in that field. Even so, suddenly flying to a rooftop during the two or three minutes before it collapsed and throwing the citizens to safety... It seems like something that would be newsworthy even in this day and age, when magical girls rescuing people has become commonplace."

...Now that she laid it all out, it sounded plausible again.

Even if I'd just been one of the citizens watching, I probably would have reported it because it was so incredible.

"As far as I know, Alice is the only magical girl who is white from head to toe, can fly while manipulating starlight, and can accurately throw something weighing as much as a person to a neighboring building without causing serious injuries in such a short time. That would be more than enough to identify her."

"That... is true. Alice is one of a kind."

I suppressed the fidgeting of the hand holding the box and felt a cold sweat break out inside.

This was why I hadn't wanted to make any conspicuous displays. My recognition had already increased because of the class, and if this got tied to it as well, most people I passed on the street might know Alice for the time being.

Wondering how long I'd have to lie low this time to resolve the problem, I picked up the box and...

............Uh, wait a second.

How am I supposed to carry this?